As most of you surely know Microsoft organized an event on January 21 to showcase the progress and innovations in Windows 10 and beyond. The conference was quite interesting and gave answers to a lot of pressing questions, especially regarding the new OS on mobile device and the new unified application ecosystem. After a few encouragements from the speakers apparently a lot more people got excited about the new insider program and Microsoft was happy to announce that over 170 000 new registrations were received for the program in the two days after the event.

Windows 10 is truly a major upgrade over previous versions and Microsoft made that abundantly clear not only through the wide array of exciting new announcements and the emerging One Windows ideology, but also through the new open development process with in-depth user-engagement along the way. A big part of that is Microsoft’s new “Insider program”. Read more »

The cloud-based Cortana assistant is officially going to be part of Windows 10 on the PC. It is now more intelligent and useful than ever. During today’s Microsoft Windows 10 event the assistant software was showcased in all its glory, working on a Desktop machine.

Cortana will not only be available on your computer, but she has gotten a whole lot better than on your phone. The software has undergone a major upgrade and is now specifically tailored for a full PC experience. Read more »

LG is definitely no stranger to flashy commercials and visually impressive promos and the Korean giant seems to be going all out for the LG G Flex 2 – the latest addition to its device lineup. The recently released video is somewhat of an extended version of the clip show at CES 2015 when the smartphone was announced.

The minute and a half promo is nothing short of spectacular. Visuals are gorgeous and it is full to the brim with impressive renderings of the device and dramatic animations. The emphasis is on the interesting features that the LG G Flex 2 brings to the table. Read more »

Meizu, one of the top ten smartphone manufacturers in China has announced today that it is joining forces with Haier, which most probably hints at an upcoming array of connected home appliances. Haier Group has a long tradition of developing, manufacturing and selling a wide array of consumer electronics, ranging from air conditioners, microwave ovens, washing machines, refrigerators, all the way to mobile phones, computers and televisions.

The partnership seems perfectly in tune with Meizu’s recent announcement that their upcoming launch event on January 28 will revolve around a “Connected” life. Furthermore the push towards connected appliances and smart homes has been steadily gaining momentum with massive group ventures, such as project Thread leading the way. It was only a matter of time before the rest of tech world adopts the new aspiration and Meizu appears to be next in line to usher forth a new way of life, along with the likes of Google and Samsung. Read more »

MediaTek seems to be gathering increasing support from device manufacturers and users all around. The Taiwanese chip maker used to mainly target the budget segment, but recent CPU MT CPUs have been performing admirably on mid-ranged devices and beyond.

A rather interesting roadmap graphic surfaced on the Chinese social network Weibo, supposedly revealing the company’s plans from the upcoming year in terms of chip production. The definite attention-grabber in the shot is the mysterious MT67XX, which the graphic hints should come out in Q4 2015. Read more »

Adobe Lightroom, one of the cornerstones of the company’s popular creative suite is not a novelty on mobile devices. The photo-editing software is already available on iOS, bringing a set of basic features, enough to get you through simple tasks on the go.

Now, a few month later, a Lightroom Android app is hitting the Play Store, but there are a few catches. First of all, as the title suggests the app is intended for smartphones and not tablets, meaning that it is actually optimized for small screens. Read more »

Firefox Hello is one of Mozilla’s most exciting innovations. It is an implementation of the WebRTC API that allows easy browser-to-browser voice, video and p2p file sharing all without any additional plugins.

While the standard itself is not new and Firefox Hello has been floating around as an addon for the open-source browser, version 35 bundles it straight into the core of the application and makes it easily accessible. Read more »

Spotify is undoubtedly one of the biggest revolutions to come to the audio industry ever since Napster was stirring up heat online. With the New Year the music master has a lot to be proud of as it recently announced that it now has 15 million paid subscribers and the whopping 60 million plus active users.

Last November these very same numbers were circling around 10 million paid and 40 million total users, so this represents a huge leap forward and foretells a bright future for the streaming service, provided that legal issues don’t get too severe. Read more »

Mediatek is indeed a formidable force in the mobile world. Its chips might not be as impressive as the top-end Nvidia, Samsung and Qualcomm ones, but the Taiwanese manufacturer pretty much dwarfs all competition when it comes to the sheer volume of units it has and can produce. It not only powers the Chinese smartphone and tablet industry, but is responsible for major advancements in the field and has long been at the forefront of processor innovation.

New rumors have surfaced from industry insiders, stating that the manufacturer in working on ushering in a new breed of mobile CPUs with 10 or even 12 cores. This of course raises a lot of questions and concerns. Read more »

As some of you surely know China was placed under a foreign console ban for the last 14 year, preventing big international companies to sell their products on the market. This is just one of numerous government policies put into place to assure proper content filtration aligned with official policy.

A resolution was finally voted last year and Beijing officially lifted the restriction, but a lot of conditions and limitations still apply. Sony Corp has announced its firm intention to release its latest console – the PlayStation 4 to new market and the event was scheduled for January 11. Read more »

Last year Toshiba released a pair of tablets under the Encore 2 name. Both devices featured a slick body with rounded edges for better handling and a nice Satin Gold finish. Both tablets feature 1280 x 800 pixel screens in 10 and 8-inch form factors, respectively. They are powered by quad-core Atom processors and come with an array of connectivity options: 802.11n Wi-Fi, Micro HDMI and wireless display support.

In a recent announcement Toshiba revealed that it will now offer an improved version of the devices that include support for Pen input and are bundled with one, produced by Wacom. The extra input method is said to be very precise, with 2048 levels of pressure intensity and should offer an array of new possible features and uses for the next generation Encore 2 tablets, dubbed Encore 2 Write. Read more »

After the announcement of the new iteration of the legendary ThinkPad X1 Carbon Lenovo has unveiled yet another addition to its laptop lineup. The LaVie Z HZ550 and HZ750 are 13.3 inch premium Ultraportables that promise superb performance in a slick, light and convertible body. According to the Chinese tech giant the two models are currently the lightest 13.3-inch convertible laptops on the market thanks to the special super-light Mg-Li (Magnesium-Lithium) Alloy used for their chassis. Each of them is built-around a special hinge, with a 180-degree field of movement on the HZ550 and a full 360-degree on the HZ750.

The two PCs are not only visually impressive, but also pack quite the punch in the specs department. Both are powered by Intel’s brand new 5th Generation, “Broadwell” processors. The higher-end HZ750 is equipped with an i7, while the HZ550 carries an i5 chip. The LaVie line boasts a set of mighty fine displays. The HZ550 comes with a 13.3inch LED (non-touch) Anti – Glare panel with WQHD resolution, while the HZ750 boasts a touch screen of the same size, available in either Full HD or WQHD. Read more »

Wearables are undoubtedly on the rise and interest for the odd new tech niche seems to growing by the minute. And even though the emerging market is dominated by big tech giants, like Samsung and LG there are some very interesting offerings available from other makers.

The three devices in question fit perfectly into the odd new realm between smartwatches and fitness trackers and come from Garmin. The Kansas-based company, most famous for its various navigation tech has hit the floor at this year’s CES with a handful of peculiar devices to go on your wrist. They are all quite different from each other and come with their own twist. Read more »

With CES 2015 announcements under way Lenovo wasted no time in the introduction of its future product plans in the mobile PC sector. Today the Chinese tech giant introduced the third generation of its immensely successful X1 Carbon model as well as new additions to the ThinkPad X, T, E and L families. The press release also discloses information on a new IPS panel by the company, as well as an interesting power-bank with interlocking design and multiple charging accessories.

It comes as no surprise that Lenovo is once again hitting strong on the mobile computer front and it is this kind of perseverance that insured the manufacturer the formidable leading position as the world’s biggest PC manufacturer for 2013. The ThinkPad lineup has been playing a central role in the company’s success formula and has been Lenovo’s pride and joy ever since it was acquired from IBM. The latest third generation ThinkPad X1 Carbon was introduced today as the lightest 14-inch performance ultrabook yet, weighing just under 2.9 pounds battery and all. Read more »

The Yotaphone 2 is definitely a peculiar take on smartphone design with its dual-display setup, powered by a more than adequate set of hardware. The Russian innovation has definitely been gathering gazes and exciting tech fans all around.

The handset is available at a promotional price of RUB 36,990 (about $640), instead of the usual RUB 39,990 (about $718). The special offer will be valid between December 30 1014 and January 7 2015, after which the normal price tag will apply. Read more »